Steps to consider to start and grow a company. Basics are provided to help entrepreneurs. Examples may relate to Biotech, Pharma and Medical Device businesses, but the ideas apply to most technology fields.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

3 Considerations that may improve customer experience

Yes, this is the call center! No one here knows how to help you; Good Bye!

Learning what not to do is one essential
part of any entrepreneurial learning experience.Finding examples of what not to do come from everyday
life because problems frequently occur.Recent
interactions with three different service providers provide are a few examples
of businesses not working in the best interest of their customers.The businesses claim to be customer centric
and desire to please their clientele, yet their services and service
departments fail to measure up.

The ability to think ahead and
anticipate unexpected events is part of the Think Agile concept.Good service and agile thinking involves more
than limited customer surveys, designing new offerings, or project development.Business leaders must consider what comes next.They also must evaluate whether unexpected
events might affect a business positively or negatively.

It is great to redesign an internet
service to make it easier to navigate, but what about the long time users that
hate the new version and are unable to obtain the same perceived value.Contracting
multiple call centers may reduce time on the phone for some, but what happens
when the service representatives know less than the customer and are not able
to make decisions or resolve a problem.It is essential that leaders consider how to deliver the best service
and products.They must also learn to anticipate
problems and find a means of quick resolution.A few specific real examples are:

Investment service:This well-known
service changed their web design making it visually more appealing. In doing
so, they eliminated the ability to find data critical for long time users that
contracted with the service.The
consideration of whether some customers would dislike the new offerings was not
apparent.The same business created 4
call centers for different types of problems.However, none of the agents at any of the 4 centers work as direct
employees for the company.Making the
problem worse they were not knowledgeable about the produce and they had no ability
to make decisions or provide the correct information.Finally and most troubling, it was impossible
to find any representative (contractor or employee) that was familiar with the
old website or printed products.Explaining the issues and trying to find a resolution simply fell on
deaf ears due to a complete lack of knowledge.How can anyone help when they know nothing about the product!

Bank:A local bank offered a free service.They later changed the service to charge
monthly and deduct a fee from an account.They notified customers by a letter requiring the customer to call to
cancel or be charged.The automated
system questions leading to gaining access to a real person were numerous
followed by 5 minutes on hold.Then, the
representative spent 10 minutes trying to convince people to retain the service.Calling in to cancel a service you do not
want and never signed up for should be less complicated!

Cable:Appointments for installation involve two
parties, the business and the customer.On the day of install, a homeowner called to determine why the service
person failed to show.The company rescheduled
the install without notifying the customer.Then when the representative came two days later, no install could be
performed without changes to the connections that had to occur at the street
level.Knowing the needs for service in
an area should be something the business is aware of! Oh, and they continued to run advertisements
for services the firm did not yet provide. It does not take common sense to investigate
what is required to ensure a good service call and having the correct people
show up at a defined time!

Every growing company will experience
changes in products, personnel, and services.Planning for these changes should consider ways to minimize the
negatives and enhance the positives.Great companies want people to perceive their product and services in the
best possible manner.There will always
be unhappy people with any change, but by thinking ahead, it may be possible to
minimize negatively affected customers. Here are just a few areas that could result
in improvements generating a more positive customer impact.Think more globally as you read these as they
are examples.The real exercise for your
business is to find similar problems that may affect your business and fix them
before they negatively affect your customers.

1)Product
changes:Changing an offering to make the product easier to use may cause the
loss of utility for some customers.Once
long term clients are familiar with the product the complexity is less a
concern.Changing the product may result
in their inability to use the product in a manner that was important to
them.Try to identify ways to help new
and old users of the product have better experiences with the new design and still
get what they want.Make sure your staff
understands both the older products and new products before you have them
engage with customers having issues!

2)Customer
Service:Call centers should have people that fully understand products and
offerings.It helps if they can make
decisions.Increasing the number of service
centers reduces wait times and allows for specialized help, but only if the
people know what their products and services.Customers do not like making multiple calls to address the same issue
and they hate it more when no one is able to make a decision or provide real
help.It is even worse when the customer must
explain the product to the service center because they do not understand
it.Remember, people want to know how
they can get the help they need.Try to
hire and train the service center personnel appropriately!

3)System awareness
& scheduling:Providing some services over a wide area
requires significant infrastructure.A service
center may be the correct place to make appointments, however if the
appointment must be changed, the service should contact the customer prior to
the scheduled time and workout a new appointment time.It also helps if the center is more familiar
with the locale and specific needs for that area.It is hard to hear that the install will be
weeks away because certain equipment is not located nearby.Try to understand the needs and requirements
in advance and schedule events to occur more timely!